He said nothing, just took the money and put it away.
Chu Ge was holding the remaining two hundred and fifty yuan.
He glanced at the money in his hand and couldn’t help but curse.
"Damn it, why’d it have to be two-fifty."
The others at the table froze for a second, then Dayong burst out laughing.
Even Su Wei, who had been keeping a straight face, had a flicker of a smile in her eyes.
Chu Ge shook his head helplessly and pocketed the money.
"Alright, everyone got their share. This barbecue is on me."
He picked up a can of Jiaduobao from the table.
"If more jobs like this pop up on the forums, I’ll probably keep taking them."
Chu Ge looked at the others at the table, his eyes filled with a geek’s fervor.
"I’ll write the code, Chen Zhuo will build the architecture, Lu Jia will handle the logic, Dayong will manage logistics, and Su Wei will do the validation. With this ragtag team of ours, we’ll be unstoppable at this university."
Chen Zhuo didn’t have a beer. He raised the water glass next to him and clinked it against Chu Ge’s.
"Not a bad idea."
Chen Zhuo took a sip of water and put down his glass.
He turned his head to look at Wang Dayong, who was stuffing his face, his mouth greasy with oil.
"Dayong."
"Hm?" Dayong looked up.
"If you’re free this weekend, take me to the Bainao Hui in Huizhou."
Chen Zhuo pulled out a napkin and wiped his hands.
"I’m going to build a new computer."
Dayong’s eyes lit up the moment he heard this.
"Yeah! What kind of specs are we talking? A Pentium 4? What about the graphics card? Or are you going with that build you mentioned before?"
"I want the best motherboard and graphics card currently on the market."
Chen Zhuo’s tone was calm.
"The hard drive needs to be big, and I want a flat-screen monitor so it’s easier on the eyes."
Chu Ge, listening from the side, was a little surprised.
"A top-of-the-line machine like that will cost several thousand."
"You’re not worried about the cost?"
Chen Zhuo just smiled.
He looked at the dim yellow streetlights on the road in the distance.
"It’s too much of a hassle to go to the computer lab to save my code, and downloading foreign papers on the university network is too slow."
Chen Zhuo withdrew his gaze.
"’A craftsman must first sharpen his tools.’ Just think of it as buying a tool."
He paused for a moment.
And said the most important words of the night.
"And I also need you to help me buy a personal laser printer."
As soon as he said this, everyone at the table froze, except for Dayong, who was already mentally prepared.
Even Su Wei stopped drinking her soda and stared at Chen Zhuo.
"A laser printer?"
Chu Ge thought he must have misheard.
"In the dorm room? What are you printing that you’d need that thing for? The consumables aren’t cheap."
"Printing foreign preprint papers."
Chen Zhuo’s tone was nonchalant, as if he were stating an extremely common, everyday need.
"There are too many of those foreign papers. It hurts my eyes to read them on a computer, and going to an outside print shop is not only expensive in the long run, but also a hassle."
He looked at the others at the table.
"Chu Ge, if you see any more of those low-level optimization jobs on the forums, keep taking them. If you run into any logic you can’t get past, come find me and Lu Jia."
Chen Zhuo pointed to where Chu Ge had been dividing the money just now.
"The rules are the same. We split it based on the work done. Everyone earns their own keep."
He picked up his chopsticks and plucked a peanut.
"With the money we make, you can upgrade your motherboard and RAM, Dayong can hunt for his secondhand parts, and Lu Jia can save up to buy books."
Chen Zhuo looked at the six hundred yuan in his pocket.
"As for me, those cutting-edge foreign papers are thick and use a lot of ink."
He smiled gently.
"The money I earned from this will be just enough to buy A4 paper and spare toner cartridges."
Chu Ge grinned and raised his can of Jiaduobao.
"Alright then, whatever makes you happy. To A4 paper and toner cartridges!"
Dayong raised his glass too.
Lu Jia hesitated for a moment, then picked up the water glass in front of him.
Su Wei was holding a Jianlibao.
Chen Zhuo raised his water glass and clinked it against theirs.

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